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ArticlesCopyright © 1991 by American Association for the Advancement of Science
Photoperiodism and effects of indoleamines in a unicellular alga, Gonyaulax polyedra
Zoologisches Institut, Universitat Gottingen, Federal Republic of Germany.
Mediation of photoperiodic effects by indoleamines, especially melatonin, is known in higher vertebrates. A similar mechanism may occur in a unicellular alga, the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra. This organism entered the dormant stage of a cyst upon short-day treatment at lowered temperatures. Interruption of darkness by 2 hours of light prevented cyst formation, even when the overall duration of light was the same as in cyst-inducing short days. When given in a noninducing photoperiod, melatonin and an analog, 5-methoxytryptamine, substances that had previously been shown to occur in Gonyaulax, provoked cyst formation. Methoxylated indoleamines may play a role as mediators of darkness in this unicellular, in a similar way as in vertebrates, suggesting a common biochemical basis of photoperiodism.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
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